Awards & Milestones

2017 Edison Award presented to Dow, Falcon for fuel-marker technology

The Dow Chemical Company’s fuel-marker technology ACCUTRACE and Falcon Analytical’s CALIDUS MT received a Silver 2017 Edison Award. Together, the unit forms a fuel-marking and detection system that allows governments to enforce tax law and prevent criminal activity. The Edison Award honors and recognizes some of the most innovative new products, services and business leaders in the country. Finalists are chosen as the “best of the best” by 3,000 of the world’s top senior business executives, academics and innovation professionals.

ACC honors BASF with Responsible Care Initiative award

BASF Corporation received the 2017 Responsible Care Initiative of the Year award from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) for its Exposure Reduction Process, the company’s customized environmental health and safety culture change program. The Initiative of the Year recipient is selected by attendees of the ACC’s annual Responsible Care Conference, a forum for more than 300 industry leaders exploring best practices to expand environmental, health, safety and security performance initiatives.

Offshore energy industry experts honored at OTC

Industry experts from more than 100 countries gathered in Houston, Texas in May for the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC). Seventeen technologies from exhibiting companies received OTC Spotlight on New Technology Awards, including two companies that also won the Small Business Award. John Bomba received the OTC 2017 Distinguished Achievement Award for Individuals for 60-plus years of far-reaching contributions to the offshore sector. The Distinguished Achievement Award for Companies, Organizations and Institutions was presented to LLOG Exploration Offshore LLC in recognition of its outstanding work on the Delta House project. OTC’s Heritage Award was presented to George Conner for championing the safe development of new technologies in the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, Art Schroeder received a Special Citation for his contributions to the industry and OTC.

Kalenborn Abresist Corporation celebrates 40th anniversary

Kalenborn Abresist Corporation celebrates its 40th year in business in 2017. Founded in 1977 as Abresist Corporation, the company changed its name to Kalenborn Abresist Corporation in January 2014. Kalenborn Abresist designs and supplies wear solutions for a wide range of industries utilizing various mineral and metallic solutions. The corporation is part of Kalenborn International GmbH & Co. KG., a parent company to 12 subsidiaries with facilities in Asia, Europe, North America and South America.

Appointments & Promotions

HI names new board of directors, officers

The Hydraulic Institute (HI), during its annual conference, announced the appointment of John H. White, Jr., CEO of TACO Inc., as chairman and John Kahren, president of SPP Pumps Inc., as president. Each will hold the post for two years. Additionally, three new directors joined the board of directors for three-year terms, including Christy Bermensolo, CEO, Engineered Software Inc.; Brent Ross, director – Core/Hydronics Customer Solutions Group, Armstrong Fluid Technology; and Oakley Roberts, vice president, Product Management and Global Sales, ARO Fluid Products, Ingersoll Rand Industrial Technologies. The leadership transition took place during HI’s Centennial Celebration and Awards Gala where George Harris, CEO Hydro, received the Chairman’s Award.

ABB names new presidents to AMEA region, Europe

ABB announced that Chun-Yuan Gu, managing director of ABB China, will become president of the AMEA region, which includes Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. He takes over for Frank Duggan, who has been appointed President of Europe, succeeding Bernhard Jucker, whose retirement was announced earlier. As members of the ABB Executive Committee, both Chun-Yuan Gu and Frank Duggan will report to ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. Both appointments will be effective July 1, 2017.

Metso appoints new chief information officer

Vesa Erolainen (BSc Eng, MBA) has been appointed Metso’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), reporting to CFO Eeva Sipilä. He has a long career within information technology, latest serving as the CIO of Pöyry and before that in CIO and other IT Leadership positions in Myllykoski and UPM.

LANXESS names new head of corporate development, appoints new board management member

Specialty chemicals company LANXESS named Dr. Jens-Christian Blad as its new head of corporate development. He will assume responsibility for the post no later than Sept. 1, 2017. Blad was with the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company since 2006, where he was in charge of the “Megatrends-supported growth in chemicals” initiative and a member of the Chemicals Practice.

LANXESS is expanding its board of management with the appointment of Stephen C. Forsyth as chief integration officer. In this role, Forsyth will be responsible for integrating the Chemtura businesses into the Cologne-based company. LANXESS acquired the U.S. chemical company in April 2017. This newly created position is limited to one year. Forsyth has more than 35 years of management experience in the chemical industry. Since 2007, he has acted as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Chemtura.

Bunting Magnetics hires new sales manager for Mexico

Bunting Magnetics Co. named David Bocanegra as its newest member of the international sales team in Mexico. Bocanegra joins Bunting Magnetics with a decade of sales and engineering experience. His focus will be face-to-face customer contact, identifying and training distributors and providing on-site customer support and advice on solving metal contamination problems.

ValvTechnologies names new chief financial officer

ValvTechnologies Inc., manufacturer of zero-leakage severe service isolation valve solutions, appointed Michelle Baker as its chief financial officer. Baker will have executive responsibility for the management of cash, assets, regulatory compliance, accounting, financial controls, business analysis and reporting. In addition, she will serve in a key leadership role helping shape strategy, drive continuous improvement, developing and supporting growth initiatives and enabling enduring customer satisfaction.

Hoover Ferguson names new chief financial officer

Hoover Ferguson Group named Troy L. Carson as its new chief financial officer. In this role, Carson will be responsible for planning, implementing, managing and controlling all financial-related activities of the company such as direct accounting; finance; strategic planning; property management; deal analysis and negotiations; investor relationships and partnership compliance; and private and institutional financing. He joins Hoover Ferguson from Hercules Offshore.

Blue-White elects vice president of operations

Blue-White Industries’ Board of Directors elected Bill McDowell to the position of Vice President of Operations. McDowell has been with Blue-White f for 32 years and has held the positions of plant maintenance supervisor, engineer and sales engineer.

Dag O. Calafell II was named chair and Manoj Gupta was named vice chair of the second biennial Asia Turbomachinery & Pump Symposium (ATPS). The event is hosted by the Turbomachinery Laboratory. Calafell has 40 years of experience in management, engineering, and operations in the oil and gas industry with end users, such as Exxon, ExxonMobil, and Koch Industries, as well as with machinery manufacturers. ATPS 2018 is planned for March 13–15, 2018, at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Sprayroq names new director of contractor development

Sprayroq Inc.named Scott Eicher to its corporate team as director of contractor development. In this role, he will be responsible for managing the company’s Sprayroq Certified Partner team. In 2002, he started Chemical Fusion, spraying polyurea linings and coatings in industrial and commercial applications. Two years later, he started Foam Fusion. In 2016, he became the southeast technical sales manager for Rhino Linings.

Bunting Magnetics hires new magnetic separation product manager

Bunting Magnetics Co. appointed Brock Herrmann as its product manager over magnetic separation. Herrmann brings more than 10 years of experience in sales, product development and new business in a variety of positions in the energy sector. Most recently, he was senior sales manager at CW Manufacturing, an industrial equipment manufacturer.

NAI announces new director of engineering, continuous improvement

NAI named Jason E. Porter to the position of director of engineering and continuous improvement. In his new role, Porter will be responsible for all product development and application engineering, in addition to the company’s Global Quality Management System and business management processes.

Weir Oil & Gas appoints new EMEA regional leader

Weir Oil & Gas appointed Ronan Le Gloahec as managing director of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Le Gloahec will lead the company’s business unit, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In this role, he will be responsible for manufacturing and service of pressure control equipment, rotating equipment, OCTG Tubular products as well as operational and maintenance contracts with end user E&P companies and national oil companies across the Middle East, Africa, Caspian and Europe regions.

Sulzer appoints new head of electromechanical services

Jim Mugford was named president and global head of Sulzer’s electromechanical services business. In this role, Mugford will be responsible for driving Sulzer’s strategy, growth and profitability for electromechanical services worldwide and creating synergies with the company’s turbo services and pump services business. Mugford joined Sulzer in 2012, during which he restructured and improved the company’s Canadian turbo and pump services operations, grew the U.S. electromechanical business and restructured and integrated the North American pump services business into Sulzer’s Rotating Equipment Services division.

BioSafe Systems appoints new regional sales manager

BioSafe Systems named Dean Allen as regional sales manager for its Meat, Poultry and Seafood Team. Based in Shreveport, Louisiana, Allen will be charged with increasing the market share and sales of BioSafe’s microbial intervention products, animal health sanitation products and food safety solutions.

Thunder Energies appoints vice president of public relations

Thunder Energies Corporation (TEC) named Brian Buckley vice president of public relations. In this role, Buckley will be responsible for the leadership of the TEC sales team, developing new business opportunities and creating customized solutions for marketing needs.

CKF Systems names new sales and marketing manager

Gloucester, England-based CKF Systems Ltd appointed Robbie Dawson as sales and marketing manager. Dawson rejoins the company after 18 months with a Poole-based systems integrator. He graduated from Exeter University with a First Class Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, followed by a three-year graduate management training Program with AzkoNobel.

ChargePoint Technology hires VP of AseptiSafe sales in North America

Chris Rombach was named vice president of AseptiSafe sales for North America for ChargePoint Technology. Rombach worked previously with ILC Dover, Pacific Ozone and Stedim Biotech (now part of Sartorius group). In his new role, Rombach is responsible for driving the growth of AseptiSafe aseptic transfer valve range across USA, Canada and Puerto Rico.

BJM promotes service manager

Joseph Ho was promoted to service manager at BJM Pumps. Ho served as an integral member of the BJM team for more than a decade. In that time, his responsibilities have grown along with the company.

Dosatron appoints regional sales manager

Dosatron International Inc. named Matthew Wellage as regional sales manager. Wellage brings six years of experience working for a manufacturer of chemical dispensing equipment. He also spent more than eight years gaining experience in industrial pipe, valve, and fitting distribution.

American Control Electronics announces new TecMation representative

American Control Electronics (ACE) hired Jere Cox as its new TecMation representative. In this role he will cover sales of ACE’s electronic control systems and power plants in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Cox’s comes to ACE with experience in variable speed controls and local industry knowledge.

Danfoss names new regional sales manager

Scott Cohen was named regional business development manager for Danfoss’ non-residential heating business in North America. In this role, Cohen will focus specifically on the growth of the energy-saving Danfoss AB-QM pressure independent control valve in hydronic applications throughout the Northeast U.S.

Solon names first female executive as new VP of operations

Solon Manufacturing Company appointed Diane Popovich as its new vice president of operations. Popovich holds the first female executive position in company history. Popovich brings 23 years of manufacturing industry to Solon. She first came to the company in 2015 as sales and marketing director. Previously, she served as sales director at Nook Industries in Cleveland, Ohio. In her new role, Popovich will oversee all operational processes within the organization with a specific focus on identifying and developing best practices for process improvements and cultivating individual and team development.

ChargePoint Technology hires VP of AseptiSafe sales in North America

Chris Rombach was named vice president of AseptiSafe sales for North America for ChargePoint Technology. Rombach worked previously with ILC Dover, Pacific Ozone and Stedim Biotech (now part of Sartorius group). In his new role, Rombach is responsible for driving the growth of AseptiSafe aseptic transfer valve range across USA, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Founder of Richards Industries dies

Industrial manufacturing company Richards Industries founder and former president Gilbert Richards died April 1 at the age of 89. After graduating from Harvard University, Richards took helm of Jordan Valve, a company with only one small mixing valve. Five years later, he turned Jordan Valve into a profitable company and was given the opportunity to purchase it, renaming the company Richards Industries. He spent the next 50-plus years in the valve industry before retiring and selling the company in a management buyout. During this time, he built-up a distribution organization, expanded the Jordan Valve product line, acquired related companies and successfully entered the global market. By the time he retired in 2007, there were almost 200 employees, six different product lines, hundreds of representatives throughout the world and several offices with the headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.